NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has held that pressing the lips of a minor or lying close to her may constitute an offence of outraging modesty under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but does not necessarily amount to aggravated sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act unless accompanied by overt sexual intent.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, while delivering the judgement, emphasised that such actions, though inappropriate and violative of a woman’s dignity, do not automatically fulfill the legal threshold required under Section 10 of the Pocso Act unless there is clear sexual intent.
“The act of touching and pressing lips or lying down next to the victim, though may result in violation of a woman’s dignity and lead to outraging of her modesty, but absent any overt or inferred sexual intent, the said acts would fall short of meeting the legal threshold required to sustain a charge under Section 10 of Pocso Act,” the Court stated.
The ruling came in response to a petition filed by an accused challenging a trial court’s decision to frame charges under both Section 354 (outraging modesty of a woman) of the IPC and Section 10 (aggravated sexual assault) of the Pocso Act.
The accused, who happens to be the paternal uncle of a 12-year-old girl, was alleged to have engaged in inappropriate conduct with the minor during her four-day visit to her grandmother’s house. The girl, who had been abandoned by her mother at the age of four, accused her uncle of pressing her lips and sleeping next to her in an objectionable manner.
While partially allowing the petition, the High Court upheld the charge under Section 354 of the IPC but discharged the accused under Section 10 of the Pocso Act. It reasoned that the act of pressing a minor’s lips, particularly in the absence of any plausible justification, constitutes criminal force under Section 350 of the IPC.
“Even a minimal physical contact, when done with the intent to or with the knowledge that it is likely to outrage modesty, is sufficient to invoke the provision of Section 354 of IPC,” the Court observed. However, the Court clarified that to establish an offence under Section 10 of the Pocso Act, the presence of sexual intent is a crucial determinant. In this case, the minor did not allege any overtly sexual conduct, nor did she indicate in her recorded statements that she had been subjected to sexual assault.
‘Criminal force under Section 350 of IPC’
High Court upheld the charge under Section 354 of the IPC but discharged the accused under Section 10 of the Pocso Act. It reasoned that the act of pressing a minor’s lips, particularly in the absence of any plausible justification, constitutes criminal force under Section 350 of the IPC.